All school districts
in Cambria, Bedford, and Somerset Counties with the exception of Richland Township
in Cambria County canceled school on Thursday when TV weather forecasters called
for an ice storm that would cause havoc on the highways and probably cause power
outages. Although icing did occur, as did some outages, conditions never did get
as bad as the weather forecasters predicted. As a result, many school officials
were upset about losing a scheduled snow day, which for many is their second when
they originally only scheduled two and winter is just beginning. Should more snow
days be needed, now, these districts will have to cut vacation days and in-service
days to complete the school year on time.

Most
school officials are hesitant to act contrary to the predictions of popular weather
forecasters. The school officials fear the dire weather predictions will come
true and if they send buses out on icy roads and risk the lives of children, they
will then face the ire of many parents. On the other hand, the weathermen make
predictions that influence the behavior of school officials, businesses, and individuals
and they do it knowing full well that meteorological forecasts are subject to
the vagaries of Mother Nature. Perhaps, the TV stations would be smart to subdue
their PR blurbs about having the most accurate forecasts and admit that they all
get their basic information from the government agency, NOAA.

By
the way, if the predictions are correct for this morning and afternoon, by tonight,
we should have another five to 10 inches of snow and ice.

Laurel
Crest workers apprehensive

At the
end of December, Conemaugh Health System will take ownership of the county nursing
home and the Johnstown-based organization has put Grane Healthcare in charge of
the facility with Mark Irwin as administrator. The new management is requiring
all current Laurel Crest employees to reapply for their jobs and this move has
the employees very concerned about their future at Laurel Crest. The new management
has tried to allay their concern by noting that the applications are a required
formality and the workers need not be worried about losing their jobs. Nevertheless,
a long-time employee at the nursing home expressed just last evening of being
apprehensive about losing her job.

Johnstown
streets

Valley residents who only
occasionally venture to Johnstown will soon find their journey a little easier.
The city plans to convert Market and Walnut Streets back to two-way traffic. More
than 20 years ago these two streets were made one way to accommodate the rush
of traffic during shift changes at the steel mills. Over the years, the one-way
streets have proved confusing to drivers unfamiliar with the city and a headache
to city residents. The change will take place in a month or so.

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